Barnesville Eliminated

February 14, 2014

CAMBRIDGE - The positives far outweigh the negative for the Barnesville Shamrocks.

However, it's Thursday night's Division III sectional game against Ridgewood that Barnesville coach Jamie Carpenter expects his team to remember most.

Barnesville saw its season come to an end at the hands of the Generals, 54-37, inside the Gene Ford Gymnasium at Cambridge High School.

"We finished with a winning record for the first time in five years and we don't have a senior," Carpenter said. "The sky's the limit if the (the girls) want to put the time in and work at it in the offseason. I am really excited about the future."

Carpenter obviously wishes he didn't have to think about the future just yet, but Ridgewood's size, length and sticky zone defense proved to be too much for the Shamrocks.

"Their size hurt us, and I am a believer when you're against (a player) bigger and stronger than you, it messes with your psyche a little bit," Carpenter said. "It feels like you're fighting an up-hill battle the entire game, which we did."

The Generals, who never trailed in the contest, shot out to a 13-6 lead after one quarter. Barnesville made it 6-4, but Ridgewood handled the Shamrocks' pressure and basically didn't look back.

"Our goal was to speed (the game) up and get the tempo in our favor," Carpenter admitted. "We got a few buckets off the pressure, but Ridgewood did a good job of calming itself down and finding the open girl against the press."

Barnesville got within five in the second quarter after a bucket by sophomore Sydney Ralston. However, the Generals (15-8) proceeded to score 23 of the game's next 28 points.

The run stretched into the third quarter and allowed Ridgewood to own a commanding 40-17 lead at a juncture.

Senior Laura Frazee was the key ingredient to the Lady Generals' success. She scored all 21 of her points in the first three quarters. She had a double-double at halftime and came up three steals shy of a triple double.

"I thought we'd make a run or two, but other than a mini run or two, we just couldn't get much going," Carpenter noted.

The Lady Shamrocks struggled against the zone. They were charted for 23 turnovers, including 10 in the third quarter.

"They're very active with that zone, so it's not like you can just stand out there and get a bunch of good looks from the 3-point line," Carpenter explained.